Peanut Free and Nut Free

Other Food Allergies

Chinese food

Isn't it true that Chinese food is generally cooked in peanut oil? My 4 year old has eaten chinese food nearly as long as she's eaten solid food and never had a problem. Peanuts, on the other hand, land us in the emergency room. She was just diagnosed with PA last year, so she was eating chinese food before we had any idea!

Most Chinese food is not cooked in peanut oil because it is too expensive. The biggest risk in Chinese food comes from cross contamination of the oil with actual peanuts, cashews and walnuts which are used in the dishes themselves.

I also ate chinese food for 16 years before I realized I was PA. Lucky me...one day I ate an egg roll (which are often sealed with peanut butter!) and I ended up in the hospital with an anaphylactic reaction. My allergist said that under no circumstances should I EVER eat in a chinese or thai restaurant. You may be able to go for several years without a reaction, but one day the guys before you in line will order Kung Pao chicken and you'll be damn sorry when they cook your food in the same wok.

It depends which restaurant you eat at. I have eaten Chinese food most of my life and never had a reaction.

For example, I was recently at a Chinese restaurant in Markham. I asked about peanuts. They advised me not to eat the stir fried food since peanuts were used in a dish, but I should order the congee noodles or something of that sort since peanuts were not used in congee. They also made a note of the allergy to ensure that the food would be safe. The congee noodles were delicious [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]

In Hong Kong, I ate at many restaurants. I did have friends with me who spoke Cantonese which did make it easier (although most people in HK do speak English).

[b]Of course, the key is that you must be very careful and ask the right questions (preferably to the manager/host/hostess), and if you are not satified with the answers, go elsewhere.[/b]

Also, very few Chinese restaurants use peanut oil as it is very expensive. I have found that they usually use either canola oil or vegetable oil (here in Toronto anyway). I have found that cashews are much more common than peanuts in Chinese restaurants (ie: cashew chicken), although peanuts are often used as well.

When I was in Beijing earlier this year, I did not eat at any Chinese restaurants. Due to the language barrier, I could not know what was safe. However, in Hong Kong and Singapore, people spoke English in most places so it was much easier.

So in summary, in my personal situation I have not had any problem eating at Chinese restaurants. But I do avoid Thai restaurants due to the fact that almost every dish contains peanut products. And if I don't feel comfortable with the answers I receive at any specific restaurant, I will go elsewhere [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]

Yankee-same thing happened to me, except I knew that I was allergic to peanuts before. However, I was never anaphylaxis-eating peanuts only used to make me sick so I pretty much ate everywhere and just avoided peanuts. I never really ate egg rolls, because I never liked them. I decided to try them again, and that's when I stopped breathing. So ever since then, I never eat at Chinese Restaurants. The only chinese food I eat is what I make at home.

I'm sure chinese food in China is a different story. Chinese food in America (or Canada I would imagine) is not very authentic. For example, I doubt you'd find a lot of kung pao chicken in China itself. However, here in the states at least, there is often a language barrier. So if I say "no peanuts" the individual behind the counter may assure me that there are none in that dish. But who's to say that the same wok or utensil wasn't used. Like I said, I ate chinese food for YEARS! I never knew I was PA because I hated peanuts, but any time I ate something that was cross-contaminated, I would get an itchy mouth and a terrible stomach ache. I only realize that in retrospect. This is only my opinion (and we all know opinions are like something else we all have!), but I just think it's foolish for a PA person to eat at a place where you KNOW there are peanuts, and unfortunately chinese restaurants are full of them. I'm not judging anyone, but accidents happen, and even if you ate there 1,000 times before, who's to say what will happen on time 1001. I ate at the same restaurant a million times before, and had even eaten their eggrolls on numerous occasions. Mow I would never eat chinese food (until they find a cure for us, at least!) No kind of food is worth that risk to me, but that's just me.

Quote:Originally posted by Yankee:
[b]I'm sure chinese food in China is a different story. Chinese food in America (or Canada I would imagine) is not very authentic. [/b]

Hi Yankee,

That may be true where you are, but here in Toronto, most of the Chinese food is authentic. There's more than 600,000 people of Chinese ancestry living in the GTA at this time so there are quite a large number of authentic Chinese restaurants in downtown Toronto in addition to in Mississauga, Scarborough, Markham and Richmond Hill.

Quote:Originally posted by Yankee:
[b]However, here in the states at least, there is often a language barrier. So if I say "no peanuts" the individual behind the counter may assure me that there are none in that dish. But who's to say that the same wok or utensil wasn't used. [/b]

In my case, I am lucky in the fact that I always have fluent Cantonese speaker(s) with me when I go to the restaurant, so if there is no one who can speak English fluently, there is someone with me who can ask. If I don't get a good answer, I will eat elsewhere. There are many Chinese restaurants that I do not eat at, and regarding Thai restaurants, I do not eat at any since they all use a large amount of peanuts. In Beijing, I did not eat at Chinese restaurants since no one spoke English and I don't speak Mandarin.

Quote:Originally posted by Yankee:
[b]I would get an itchy mouth and a terrible stomach ache. I only realize that in retrospect. [/b]

I have never had an itchy mouth/reaction from eating at a Chinese restaurant. All of my reactions occurred when I was eating 'caucasian food'.

Quote:Originally posted by Yankee:
[b]I just think it's foolish for a PA person to eat at a place where you KNOW there are peanuts, and unfortunately chinese restaurants are full of them. [/b]

If I was to avoid every restaurant that had peanuts in it, there would be very few places where I could eat. Even McDonalds has bags of peanuts for the sundaes, and almost every restaurant has some type of peanut product on-site, especially in desserts.

And once again, not all Chinese restaurants (in Toronto anyway) are filled with peanuts. If a restaurant is filled with peanuts, I stay away. Many restaurants serve peanut butter and jelly sandwiches - I find that is more risky than the Chinese restaurants I go to, as they may use the same knife to cut the pb and jelly sandwich as they do to cut the cheese/ham sandwich that I may order.

Quote:Originally posted by Yankee:
[b]No kind of food is worth that risk to me, but that's just me. [/b]

In general, I think it is more risky for me to drive a car than to eat at restaurants. Numerous lives are lost each day due to car accidents, and drunk drivers scare me a lot more than peanuts do. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/eek.gif[/img]

I don't worry about eating Chinese food, as I ask questions and determine whether it is safe before I eat it, and if I have any doubts I go elsewhere. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]